Hands Off Treasurer's Office, Santos Warns Daley

City Treasurer Miriam Santos, who is under federal indictment, vowed Thursday to fight any attempt by Mayor Richard Daley to oversee operations of her office.

An announcement by Daley's chief financial officer, Walter Knorr, that his office would "provide day-to-day oversight" following Wednesday's indictment was described by Ken Jakubowski, manager of Santos' re-election campaign, as part of "a 10-year attempt by the present administration to take over control of the treasurer's office. This is a naked power grab."

On Santos' orders, Jakubowski said, "any attempt to take over one scintilla of control will be met with all resistance." Mayoral representatives who show up at her door and refuse a "polite" request to leave "will be escorted out," he said.

Mayoral spokesman John Camper denied any attempt at a takeover of the treasurer's office, which manages about $60 billion in city funds annually.

"We just want to exercise some oversight to assure ourselves and the taxpayers that the money is safe," he said.

Jakubowski said Santos has obtained a legal opinion asserting she has sole control as an elected official over treasurer's office operations.

But Knorr said in a statement released Thursday that the municipal code gives the city comptroller responsibility for "general supervision" of the treasurer's office.

The comptroller "has for some time provided review of annual and semi-annual audits, cash flow reviews and reconciliation reviews," he said. "Comptroller personnel currently carrying out these functions in the treasurer's office will continue to do so, but with increased daily review of these activities."

No new attempts at intervention were made by Daley's aides on Thursday, and sources close to the mayor said they hoped to fashion a compromise with Santos.

On Wednesday Santos was charged with 12 counts of extortion, mail fraud and wire fraud in connection with alleged threats to cut off city business unless financial firms agreed to make political contributions.

She has denied any wrongdoing.

Santos, once a Daley protege, publicly took him on in 1991 when she said that three top mayoral aides were trying to interfere in decisions that were rightfully hers.